On September 14th 2001 it was announced that Gemeinde Brunow would be awarded a gold medal as a result of their participation in the 20th "Unser Dorf soll schöner werden - Unser Dorf hat Zukunft" (Our village shall become beautiful - Our village has a future) competition.

More than just a beauty contest

The competition, which can be defined as "an instrument to promote development in rural areas", is open to municipalities of less than 3000 inhabitants. The competition "Unser Dorf soll schöner werden - Unser Dorf hat Zukunft", which is held every three years, is more than just a beauty contest. Begun by the Federal Department of Agriculture in 1961, the initial focus of the competition was on promotion of the beautification of villages, however in recent years the focus of the competition has shifted to promotion of improving and sustaining quality of life.

The objectives

Through the competition, villages are encouraged to further develop and safeguard for the future their cultural, social, economic, architectural and ecological structures. The competition is intended to motivate creation and implementation of joint village and regional plans.

Specifically, the goals are:

To strengthen the diverse social and cultural development of community life in the village, and simultaneously to promote responsibility for shaping the living environment.

To develop and implement overviews for joint development of the village and region, and at the same time to seize and use the village's economic potential to secure existing commerce, and where possible, create new employment opportunities.

To preserve and further develop the individual village structures including its preservation-worthy historic fabric that is consistent with village and regional conditions.

To consciously include and strengthen the interests of nature and the environment in the maintenance of the agricultural space and the development of the village as a living, working and leisure place.

The competition sets guidelines for exemplary achievements and solutions and is intended to motivate villages to further activities.

Some of the points on which the communities are evaluated are:

The abilities of the citizens to develop and carry out their own initiatives. Participation by the residents is considered to be very important.

The incorporation of environmental concerns and adherence to environmental standards in village development.

The promotion of quality of life (social and cultural lives of the inhabitants).

The Chronology of Gemeinde Brunow's participation

Gemeinde Brunow, as part of the area formerly known as East Germany (the German Democratic Republic) had suffered the same fate as other rural villages of the area. The collapse of the GDR in 1989 combined with the resolve of the newly unified Germany to improve the lives of the people of the former GDR brought the opportunity to reverse the decades of neglect and decay.

To accomplish this task a Federal program for redevelopment of rural villages was implemented. Through the program 2.7 billion Deutsche-Marks were issued for private and public development from 1991 to 2001. 325 communities were accepted into the program. It is estimated that 50,000 homes were repaired, and nearly 4,000 kilometers of roadway were repaired.

The people of Gemeinde Brunow chose to take advantage of this opportunity to improve conditions in their community. In 1992 they decided to apply for funding from the village redevelopment program. By 1995 they had completed their application, and in 1996 they received approval. They received 680,000 DM for public improvments, and 891,155 Deutsche Marks were issued for 49 requests for subsidies. Through this program nearly every house in Gemeinde Brunow received repairs.

Separately, the members of the church in the village of Brunow rehabilitated their church. See The Church at Brunow.

The competition

County competition - Gemeinde Brunow participated in the competition for the county of Ludwigslust in August of 2000, competing against 60 other municipalities in the county, and 5 in their own LandAmt of Grabow. On January 26, 2001 Brunow was awarded 1st place in the county of Ludwigslust.

State competition - Gemeinde Brunow next participated in the state competition of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in June of 2001. They were one of 180 communities participating in the state-wide competition. The village was evaluated June 7, 2001 and it was announced on June 11 that Gemeinde Brunow had taken 2nd place in Mecklenberg-Vorpommern behind 1st place Ballwitz. Gemeinde Brunow was awarded the 2nd place July 29. This placement qualified them for competition in the national competition.

National competition - Gemeinde Brunow was honored by being selected to host the opening of the 20th national competition which would be held August 15, 2001. It would be the first of the 41 participating municipalities to be toured by the competition committee. Renate Künast, Federal Minister of Consumer Protection, Till Backhaus, Minister for Nutrition, Agriculture, Forests and Fisheries of Mecklenburg/Vorpommern, and several other officials were present for the opening. The 18-person competition committee opened the national competition by touring the member villages of Gemeinde Brunow: Klüß, Bauerkuhl and Brunow. Under radiant sunshine in blazing heat the people of Gemeinde Brunow presented their community to the dignitaries and competition committee. They did their job well, for on September 14 it was announced that Gemeinde Brunow would be one of 19 municipalities to be awarded the GOLD MEDAL.

Gemeinde Brunow was awarded the gold medal January 27, 2002 in Berlin.

Commentary

As an outsider one can clearly see that this competition motivates communities to promote active participation by its residents in improving their lives and their surroundings. It rewards their hard work by recognizing their efforts in a way that further promotes community pride. It is unfortunate that all participating villages cannot receive gold medals, but all certainly benefit through their participation.

The residents of Gemeinde Brunow are justifiably very proud of their accomplishments. They have shown themselves to be a model of a progressive rural community after which other communities can model themselves!